FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve put together a list of FAQs addressing the most common questions people using our service have.
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Counselling/psychotherapy is the process of meeting with a professional to discuss and work through personal problems that may be affecting you in your life. It allows people to talk about issues and difficulties in a safe environment where they can feel ‘listened to’.
A therapist will help you address problems in a positive way and help you clarify issues, explore solutions and increase self-awareness. Our therapists don’t tell you what to do. Instead, they help you develop the skills to understand your difficulties and find healthy ways to cope with them. This can empower people to grow, free themselves from old patterns and improve their quality of life.
Anyone can benefit from counselling and psychotherapy at any point in life, but they are usually most beneficial to people facing personal problems or going through significant life changes.
Our team of friendly therapists are professionally trained to deal with a range of mental health and relationship problems. You can discuss anything that’s important to you. We often help clients with anxiety, depression, stress and childhood trauma. Read more about the issues we can help with here.
Counselling and psychotherapy aren’t for everyone, but our clients often find their problems are more manageable when they feel heard and understood.
This can cause our clients some confusion, because the two are quite similar. Generally, counselling describes when a client works through a difficulty that is currently happening in their life. Whereas, psychotherapy is about working on issues related to past events that still affect you now.
Our counselling and psychotherapy services are open to everyone in the community. We accept donations on a sliding scale from those who can afford it and our priority is to help all, so even if you can’t afford to pay anything, do get in touch.
Our therapists provide counselling in Wexford town, Enniscorthy and Gorey. Appointments are made through the Wexford Office at 053-9123086 or info@ford.ie
Just get in touch with The FORD Counselling and Psychotherapy Centre by phone or email and we’ll guide you through the first steps. Get in touch here.
Our therapists provide a professional service, so what is said between you remains completely confidential. But with ethical and legal obligations in mind, there are two exceptions to this rule:
- If your therapist is concerned you’ll harm yourself or others
- If you disclose current or past child abuse to your therapist.
If either of these situations arise, your therapist will discuss it with you and plan together what to do next. Before beginning therapy, our therapists always talk about confidentiality with clients.
After initial phone contact, we match clients with a therapist best suited to address their needs.
Our person-centred approach to counselling is non-judgemental and respectful. In the first session, you can expect to discuss your contract with the service, your history, current issues and anything urgent you want to explore.
If counselling/psychotherapy isn’t right for you, there is no pressure to continue with it. But if you feel more sessions can help, further weekly meetings are arranged.
It’s normal to be nervous about your first counselling/psychotherapy session. If you have any specific concerns or questions which we haven’t addressed, feel free to get in touch.
This depends on you and your needs. Counselling/psychotherapy can last a few weeks or a few months. Initially, you’ll start with a short-term plan of six sessions and this is later reviewed. Most people will begin to benefit after a few sessions but, if you need more help, we also offer medium and long-term counselling. Long-term clients would attend over 20 sessions.
They normally last maximum of one hour and take place once a week.
If you need to cancel a counselling session, get in touch as soon as possible. This will allow us to offer your slot to someone else who is in need of counselling and psychotherapy services. At least 48 hours’ notice is appreciated.
Each of our therapists is selected for their personal and professional qualities. All of our friendly and approachable therapists are professionally trained and have achieved, or are working toward, recognised accreditation.
Currently our services are only available to over 18s, but you can find a list of helplines and supports for youths on our useful links page. The Ford Centre will deliver services to adolescents in the near future.
If you have any questions about counselling and psychotherapy that haven’t been answered in the above FAQs, get in touch and we’ll be happy to provide an answer.
